2 priests removed from ministry

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BRAINTREE -- In unrelated incidents, the Archdiocese of Boston has revoked the faculties of one priest while accepting the resignation of another as a parish pastor.

Father Keith LeBlanc, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Haverhill, has resigned due to allegations of financial mismanagement.

Archdiocesan spokesperson Terrence Donilon said in a statement June 19 that the archdiocese is cooperating with law enforcement in investigation proceedings and that a temporary administrator for the parish will be announced.

"Because this remains an active investigation, the archdiocese will decline further comment at this time," Donilon said.

On June 20 the archdiocese announced that Father Gabriel Michel, a parochial vicar at St. Angela Merici Parish in Mattapan, had been stripped of his faculties to perform public ministry in the Boston Archdiocese due to allegations of sexual misconduct with an adult.

A priest of the Archdiocese of Cap-Haitien in Haiti, Father Michel served as the archdiocese's Haitian apostolate coordinator and as a chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Spokesperson Kelly Lynch said the archdiocese has notified Archbishop Louis Kebreau, of Cap-Haitien of the allegations because Father Michel is on loan from the Haitian archdiocese.

Lynch added that the archdiocese has not notified law enforcement at this time, but will do so if it discovers any criminal element to the allegations.